Expedition to Europe

The wind is biting, snow is flying all over the sky, and the Forest of Boulogne is covered in snow.

In a corner of the forest, you can hear the sound of falling snow quietly. Behind this place is a small hill with a small river flowing beside it. It can be said that it is surrounded by mountains and rivers. According to Chinese customs, this is a geomantic treasure land.

The Chinese Soldiers Cemetery is located here.

The atmosphere today is particularly solemn. A group of soldiers came over early and started busy. The black gauze on their arms, the white silk above the cemetery gate, and the small flowers for people to express their condolences can be seen everywhere, all indicating that something is about to happen here.

At eleven o'clock in the morning, all kinds of cars and carriages came in an endless stream. Everyone who knew the news and everyone who had interacted with the Chinese troops of the Foreign Legion came to attend the burial ceremony. They would witness this moment and Send the last journey to the martyrs.

As an important part of the Allied Forces, this ceremony also attracted the attention of the high-level Allied Powers. French President Raymond Poincaré and British Prime Minister Lloyd George both came to attend the ceremony in person. Although U.S. President Wilson did not attend, However, Commander-in-Chief Pershing of the US Army was sent to attend the ceremony as his special representative, and he called Qin Zhiyuan to express his respect for the martyrs and express his regret that he could not attend the ceremony in person.

These fallen warriors all came from ordinary families in the Far East. They did not receive much honor during their lifetimes, and they may have died silently, but to be able to receive such mourning and honor now is considered a worthy death.

As the host, Qin Zhiyuan and Julie greeted the important guests at the entrance of the cemetery.

Qin Zhiyuan's status now transcends that of an ordinary Allied general. He is also the king of the Grand Duchy of Lanfang, which is unique within the Allied Powers. Although Qin Zhiyuan did not take office for a day, after the Grand Duchy of Lanfang issued a statement, the French government immediately expressed congratulations to Qin Zhiyuan. This was undoubtedly an acknowledgment of the relationship between Qin Zhiyuan and the Grand Duchy of Lanfang, and at the same time, it also recognized The Grand Duchy of Lan Fang is an independent country.

Yes, independent countries, regarding the relationship between Lanfang and the Republic of China, the British government that colonized Malaya, the French government that colonized French Indochina, and the U.S. government that colonized the Philippines all expressed concern. The distance between them is really too close. .

After careful consideration, Qin Zhiyuan said that the Grand Duchy of Lanfang is now an independent country and has no affiliation with the Republic of China. Only then did it receive reserved recognition from the governments of various countries.

It is impossible not to be independent. If the Grand Duchy of Lanfang and the Republic of China become a country, then this country will be too huge. They occupy almost most of the land in East and Southeast Asia, which will cause strong uneasiness in the relevant countries.

An independent country is much easier to say, at least it seems that the threat is not that great. Britain, France, the United States and other countries can also accept some of the extraordinary actions of the Grand Duchy of Lanfang.

Otherwise, Lanfang's acquisition in Germany may not go so smoothly.

Qin Zhiyuan's identity is very special. Qin Zhiyuan is a native of the Republic of China and a Frenchman. Now he also needs to add a native of Lanfang. After calculation, Qin Zhiyuan should actually represent the three countries of the Republic of China, France and Lanfang. interests.

But in fact, no matter which side it is, Qin Zhiyuan cannot represent it.

France does not need Qin Zhiyuan's representative. The Republic of China government was busy with the civil war and did not authorize Qin Zhiyuan. The Grand Duchy of Lanfang, established during the World War, did not declare war on Germany at all. Now that it starts to "share the spoils", naturally there will be nothing to do with the Grand Duchy of Lanfang.

It seems that Qin Zhiyuan is in danger of getting nothing.

But in fact, everyone knows about Qin Zhiyuan's relationship with the Foreign Legion.

It can be said that if there were no Qin Zhiyuan, there would be no Chinese troops in the Foreign Legion, there would be no victory in the Battle of Ferenta de Noir, there would be no victory in the Second Battle of Reims, and even if there were no Foreign Legion to hold on to Lans France, Paris will be in great danger.

Therefore, Britain, France, and the United States acquiesced in the acquisition of the Grand Duchy of Lanfang in Germany and regarded those machines as compensation for Qin Zhiyuan.

Not to mention that Britain, France, the United States and other countries also have demand for those machines, they don't need them at all.

During the war, the arms industries of all countries made great progress. Except for Germany, the production scale of all countries was actually increasing. Now that the world war is over, the production scale of Britain, France, the United States and other countries has been reduced, so there is naturally little demand for German machines.

Almost everyone who attended the meeting would chat with Qin Zhiyuan. Foch, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, and Lyautey, the minister of the army, actually stood with Qin Zhiyuan after communicating with him. Welcoming guests and acting as half host.

This makes the standard of this ceremony seem even higher.

At 11 o'clock sharp, the ceremony began.

As the host, Qin Zhiyuan first came up to give a speech: "Ladies, gentlemen, and friends, thank you very much for taking the time to come out of your busy schedule. Today we are together to commemorate those who sacrificed their lives in the world war..."

Qin Zhiyuan's speech was not long. He simply thanked a few words and then made room.

There are so many people who are qualified to speak, including Raymond Poincaré, Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, Ferdinand Foch, John Pershing...

Even Secretary of War Lyautey was not given a chance to speak.

At 12 o'clock, the ceremony officially started.

The fallen martyrs have now been gathered in coffins made of nanmu, covered with the national flag of the Republic of China and the military flag of the Foreign Legion. Four generals carried the first one into the cemetery.

The four generals are Qin Zhisheng, Chen Kangjian, Ge Lifu, and Liu Zizheng, all of whom are lieutenant generals.

These four people were Qin Zhiyuan's roommates when he came to France, and they were the first Chinese to join the Foreign Legion. It can be said that if the martyrs in these coffins had not died, then their status would not be much different even if they were not as good as these generals. After all, when they first joined the Foreign Legion, their starting point was the same.

The generals had solemn expressions and took solemn and slow steps to put the first coffin into the already dug cemetery. The inscription in front of the cemetery recorded the life of this martyr: Tong Guangming, male, 1896.3.8-1916.9.7. In September, Tong arrived in France as a Chinese worker and went to the battlefield on the fourth day. He died in the German artillery while transporting supplies to the front-line positions.

A simple sentence outlines Tong Guangming's 20-year-old life.

Only one year older than Qin Zhiyuan.

From the moment the generals carried the coffin into the cemetery, the 40-member honor guard raised their rifles and fired together to bid farewell to the martyrs.

The honor guard members were dressed in school officer uniforms. They were also the first batch of soldiers to join the Foreign Legion. Now the lowest rank was major, who worked in the logistics department with Qin Zhisheng. If they were in the combat troops, the lowest rank would be lieutenant colonel.

The rumbling of gunfire shook the fields, and the snow on the trees fell down, adding to the already flying snowflakes, which added a bit of solemnity. The emotionally fragile ladies couldn't help but shed tears, while the men saluted with serious expressions. All the soldiers saluted. At this moment, respect for life reached the extreme.

There is no relevant regulation on the number of times to fire guns to express condolences. The Foreign Legion implements age, and the number of gunshots is determined according to age.

The original text is in the six # 9 @book/bar!

The work of sealing the earth was carried out by Raymond Poongarai and Lloyd George.

Of course, it is impossible to seal all of them, but Raymond Poongarai and Lloyd George still insisted on sealing the first cemetery, as a token of their gratitude.

After sealing the first cemetery, the ceremony was considered complete.

Of course, the follow-up work will continue for a while. For tens of thousands of soldiers, it is normal to continue for several months.

After the ceremony, the guests said goodbye one after another. There was naturally no banquet or anything like that on such occasions, but Qin Zhiyuan had already prepared to hold a cocktail party at the Black Swan Castle in a few days, both for thanks and for farewell.

With the end of the world war, the troops from various colonies had to return to their hometowns and demobilize. After Christmas, the French Indochina Annam vassal army led by Wu Yuanting and Nguyen Juncai would return to Annam.

Not all of them were disbanded. For example, the troops led by Wu Yuanting were still relatively strong in combat effectiveness. They would serve as colonial troops to maintain the French rule over French Indochina.

As for those troops with weaker combat effectiveness and larger numbers, such as Indians, it is estimated that most of them will be disbanded. Such troops will have no purpose except to increase the paper numbers.

The Chinese troops under Qin Zhiyuan are also about to return to the Far East. In fact, more than a month ago, a troop escorted some heavy weapons and returned to the Far East as a vanguard. They want to find a place for Qin Zhiyuan's foreign legion.

Qin Zhiyuan has almost 200,000 people under his command now, and the number of recruits being trained in the recruit camp must exceed 200,000. Such a large force cannot be disbanded.

You must know that after the world war, although there were not many wars in Europe, there were definitely some.

For now, there are voices within the Allied forces that want to interfere in the Russian civil war, and there are many countries that echo them. The Americans and the French are interested.

After the Bolsheviks led by Lenin came to power, they unilaterally signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany. This treaty was actually a betrayal of the Allies. Although Lenin had his own considerations (it was because of Ludendorff's planning that Lenin was able to return to Russia), Lenin could not stop the Allies from hating him.

The dominant position of the working class also opened a window for workers in other European countries. In the current Germany, some workers launched riots and tried to overthrow the German emperor and establish a democratic Germany dominated by workers.

This aroused the vigilance of European countries. They could not accept the workers' rule in Europe, which would fundamentally subvert the ruling order they had established for hundreds of years.

So the mainstream thought in Europe now is to overthrow the Bolshevik government in Russia, the United States wants to play a greater role in international affairs, and France wants to regain an ally.

During the period when the Tsar ruled Russia, Russia was a traditional ally of France. After Lenin came to power, he actually had the opportunity to repair relations with France, that is, to continue to participate in the war, but Lenin took the initiative to give up this opportunity.

Compared with Europe, the Republic of China is now in the midst of war, and the Japanese are eyeing it covetously. Qin Zhiyuan must retain some of his strength as a capital for contingency.

However, this is not easy. The war currently going on in the country is essentially a war between the governors fighting for territory. If Qin Zhiyuan leads his troops back to the Republic of China, it may destroy the current balance between the north and the south and become a new force.

And these are unacceptable to the governors.